Science news, Anthropology, Physics, Agriculture - Scicornwall

Watch out for a killer slugs at large in your garden

A CARNIVOROUS slug that sucks worms in “like spaghetti” and which has never been seen before in Western Europe, has been discovered in Welsh gardens, biologists revealed yesterday.

The slug, which boasts blade-like teeth, has turned up in a garden in Caerphilly to the amazement of experts.A  similar type of creature – which is completely white and without eyes – is normally found in Turkey and Georgia. The bizarre subterranean beast has since become the first creature to boast a scientific name based on a Welsh word.

A spokeswoman for the National Museum in Cardiff said the origin of this particular slug, named Selenochlamys ysbryda by museum experts, is a mystery as to how it got to Britain.

The slugs came to the attention of the museum after being found by a gardener, who wishes to remain anonymous. The spokeswoman believed the creatures could be more widespread in South Wales. She added: “Unlike most slugs, the ghost slug is carnivorous and kills earthworms at night with powerful, blade-like teeth, sucking them in like spaghetti. “It has no eyes, is completely white, and lives underground, squeezing its flexible body into cracks to get at the worms.”

Ben Rowson, a biologist at the National Museum in Cardiff, said: “The ghost slug belongs to an obscure and almost unpronounceable group of slugs – the Trigonochlamydidae.

“We had to thumb through lots of old publications in Russian and German to find anything like them – but then discovered they were something entirely new.”

He added: “They may well eat other slugs too.”

Unlike others from the group of creatures which are larger, have no eyes and a different internal anatomy, the scientists realised it was an undescribed species that had no scientific name. They decided to name the creature Selenochlamys ysbryda, partly from the Welsh word ysbryd meaning ghost, a name which appears with the species’ description in June’s edition of the Journal of Conchology. Mr Rowson added: “Selenochlamys ysbryda seemed appropriate for this spooky, nocturnal hunter and indicates where it was first found.

“We think this is the first time a Welsh word has been used in an animal’s scientific name.”

Bill Symondson, an ecologist at Cardiff University, added: “The lack of eyes and body colour could indicate the species evolved in a cave system. “It was probably introduced to Britain in plant pots, making it an ‘alien’ species, although we can’t be certain. We’re concerned that it might become a pest, but we need to find out more about it first.”

John Humphries, Western Mail gardening columnist, urged garden centres and gardeners to inspect plants for such creatures, before they escape and breed in the wider environment. “I’ve never heard of the ghost slug but I assume it is one of these pests that come into the UK on container plants and get introduced accidentally.

“There are more and more such pests coming in.

“And no matter how much we may hate our indigenous slugs and snails that eat our produce – and there have been an awful lot of them this year – it is better the devil you know.

“Without earthworms our soil would be rock hard and they do a lot of good for the garden.

“Once here, the pests can cause a lot of damage which can be difficult to stop and they could upset the balance of things.”

To monitor the ghost slug’s trail, the museum has produced a simple identification guide available from their website www.museumwales.ac.uk/

The Ant City, Amazing discovery

Although the methods used are somewhat questionable the end result speaks for itself.

Electrocution Shows Moths Remember Their Caterpillar Memories

Recently scientists trained tobacco hornworm caterpillars to avoid a nail polish-like odor delivered in association with a mild shock in the lab. After the caterpillar entered the pupal stage and changed into a moth they still avoided the nail-polish odor, this showing that they retained the memory of their youth.

"We concluded that indeed the association does persist and is accessible to the adults in this artificial scenario," said study senior author Martha Weiss, a biologist at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.
The finding also supports the idea that a piece of the caterpillar brain persists through metamorphosis, she added.

Scientists have long wondered whether memory could survive the dramatic reorganization of the moth brain during metamorphosis, Weiss noted. "The transition from a caterpillar to a moth or butterfly is really very dramatic," she said. For example, caterpillars and moths move, eat, and sense the world differently—not to mention appear nothing alike. (see previous post: Bird Poop Bugs)

Caterpillars younger than three weeks old learned to avoid the nail-polish odor but could not recall the information as adults. However caterpillars trained to avoid the nail-polish odor in the final stages before puation retained the lessons.

Larvae trained during the mid stage of caterpillars growth showed that in the final stages before pupation, they would avoid the odor. However this was not the case when they grew to moth adults.

The research may help explain how adult female moths that can eat a variety of food choose to lay their eggs on the same type of plant they fed on as larvae. If the moths retain some memories from their larval stage, as this research shows, then they could remember what they ate as "kids."

Study author Weiss describes it as an "if it was good enough for me, it's good enough for my kids" type of selection. 

Butterflies and Moths, Do eyespots really ward of predators

The eye spots on the wings of butterflies and moths are intended to be conspicuous to predators, not to resemble the eyes of larger animals, a new study found.

With 150 years of believing that Butterflies and Moths have eye spots to intimidate their predators, Martin Stevens, a behavioral ecologist, has found no proof to backup this age old theory. Now Martin is leading a study into what these eye spots truly do. ]

Martin and his team created artificial paper "Moths" with varying eye spot markings and nailed them to woodland trees. With an additional incentive of meal worm being attached to each moth the woodland birds should have a happy hour at the local watering hole, well, tree. Ideally the local blackbirds, house sparrows and other woodland birds would approach and either be discouraged to eat the worm or happily go ahead and pick it right off the moth.

If eye spots worked by mimicking eyes, the paper insects with circular spots would present a threat and be preyed on last. This was not the case, Martin said " Making the spots appear more eye like by moving the center "pupil" of the eye inward didn't give the paper moths any advantage."

Large bars and squares placed on the waterproof paper wings of the paper moths provided as much protection as circles and the larger the marking, the less it was preyed upon. Likewise, the more the Insect
spots were on the wing, the less birds attacked them.

Martin and his co workers concluded that the 'visual loudness' of the markings would startle or frighten the predator into avoiding the paper moths.

The well renowned evolutionary ecologist, Tom Sherratt said that;

"It does seem very likely, based on [the new] work, that it's the conspicuousness of the signal that is more of a deterrent than anything to do with it resembling an eye,"

For more information try the following sources:
National Geographic

Behavioral Ecology (March Issue)

Bird Poop Bugs, a Disguise of Disguises

The Swallowtail butterfly's larva has a clever disguise, looking like crap can have its advantages!

This Asian butterfly mimics the appearance of bird droppings during the larval stage to prevent predators from feasting on its juicy goodness. Although during the last phase of larvae it turns green to disguise itself with the leaves that it finds home.

In a new study, Japanese entomologists have found that a single hormone is responsible for turning the color of the caterpillars. hormone levels fall when the caterpillar changes from one guise to the next. This hormone can also change the texture and color pigment pattern making the disguise all the better from one bug to the next.

The study, conducted by Ryo Futahashi and Haruhiko Fujiwara, was released today in the journal Science.